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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Making a mark in 2010 (girls)

Kayla Briggs

Chartiers-Houston is loaded with top-notch female athletes, from tennis player Tanya Timko (who will attempt to win a WPIAL Boys Class AA championship in 2011) to volleyball player Lacey Levers.

As a freshman on the C-H softball team, Briggs made an immediate impact and her play catapulted the Bucs to previously unattained achievements.

Briggs, along with teammates Kiersten Conwell and Colby Miller made the Class A All-State first team in leading C-H to its first PIAA title. Briggs' batting average hovered around .500 for the majority of the season and she served as a late-innings pitcher in several key games.

Nicole Hilton

This fall, Hilton made her all-section soccer team for South Fayette AND she won a WPIAL Class AA cross country championship. At the state meet, Hilton finished fifth and 18 seconds ahead of any other WPIAL competitor.

Not bad for a first-year cross country runner.

That performance comes off a dominating spring track season, where the likely Division I runner also played multiple sports.

Hilton, who didn't take up running until her junior year, won WPIAL Class AA titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs. At states, she finished second in the 3,200 and seventh in the 1,600. Plus, Hilton plays softball.

Jessie Merckle

Thanks to the steady contributions of Merckle (pictured), Fort Cherry basketball is considered one of the top teams in WPIAL Class A this season. The Rangers are 6-1 after losing to Class AAA Mt. Pleasant in the finals of the Ambridge Holiday Tournament Thursday night. Only one of Fort Cherry's wins has come against a team in its own classification.

Meckle, a 5-5 junior guard and multi-year starter, made a major impact during the spring as one of the WPIAL's top performers in the javelin.

As a sophomore, Merckle consistently hit in the mid 140s in the javelin and her top throw of 147-7 ranked in the top 10 nationally for much of the track season. Merckle won the WPIAL Class AA championship in the event and will look to improve on her performance at the state meet this year.

Shelli Spamer

One of the most decorated soccer players (boys or girls) in Washington County history, Spamer left her playing days at Peters Township with the ultimate prize - the PIAA Class AAA team championship trophy.

The future midfielder at North Carolina State scored goals when needed, played defense with vigor and served as playmaker later in the Indians' season, which also included a WPIAL championship.

Spamer, one of the more colorful and quotable high school athletes I've come across, earned Player of the Year status from several local outlets, was all-section, all-WPIAL, all-state and earned a place on the NSCAA All-Region II team.

About the blogger

A devoted fan of the Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, 1990s rap and Tom Petty, Mike Kovak works as a sports writer for the Observer-Reporter, a newspaper located in Washington, Pa. Kovak covers high school sports – from football to softball and everything in between. He's known to appear at the random Pitt football and men's basketball game or the occasional West Virginia game and previously helped Steelers beat writer F. Dale Lolley at home games. When not tracking college basketball – his sport of choice – or watching That 70s Show reruns, Kovak is busy playing Mr. Mom for his daughter, Anna Noel Kovak.

Kovak was hired by the Observer-Reporter in 1999. He previously spent two years at the Beaver County Times and four months as an intern at the Tribune-Democrat, located in Johnstown.

Kovak invites any and all movie buffs to exchange lines from classic comedies, such as Anchorman, Caddyshack and The Hangover.

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Mike Kovak is a sports writer for the Observer-Reporter. All content on this blog is Copyright 2011, Observer Publishing Co. Washington, PA. 1998-2009 All Rights Reserved